TWO leading Wessex League managers believe the unpredictable climate counts against the notion of introducing a winter break to beat the Big Freeze.

The local football programme was once again decimated by the cold snap over the weekend – with sub-zero temperatures and snow calling a halt to action throughout the region.

Wessex League matches were particularly hard hit, with none managing to survive the cold snap, while Southern League games involving Bashley and Wimborne Town bit the dust.

Top-flight professional games, at grounds with the luxury of undersoil heating, were also heavily affected, leaving non-league clubs with little chance of making their pitches suitable for play.

One possible solution to counteract the frozen surfaces could be a winter break, where a period could be scheduled into the season at a time when it is most likely a spate of postponements might occur.

But Poole Town boss Tom Killick and Christchurch counterpart Graham Kemp, both of whom were left frustrated by the weather on Saturday, are not in favour of a mid-season shutdown.

Killick, whose reigning champions had been due to host Brading Town at Tatnam, thinks the principle of the concept is “sound”. But told the Echo: “I’m against it really because of the unpredictability of when the worst weather is going to be.

“When do you have these two weeks? You could end up having two weeks off then the fortnight before and after are really bad, while you could have possibly played games during the break itself. And then suddenly it would turn a winter break into a recipe for fixture congestion.

“If you’re only talking about a one or two-week window, I don’t really see that it’s workable, purely because of getting the timing right.”

Kemp, whose Priory team had been set to entertain Blackfield and Langley at Hurn Bridge, added: “I’d carry on the way we are. You never quite know when it’s going to rain and when it’s not. If you had a three-week break and then it proceeded to rain or snow for the first three weeks after that, then you’re having a six-week break.

“I think the weather in this country is too unpredictable. A couple of years ago we didn’t play for three weeks because of rain and I think that was in January. So, if we’d had a three-week break in December and then lost most of January, you would have been struggling to fit it in.”

A potential winter break has earned lots of support from leading figures in the English game, but not because of weather issues.

England boss Fabio Capello and Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson are among those to have backed the idea, in order to provide top players with a rest.